Being so, the Wisconsin native thereby will portray a doctor living in an unidentified town struck by an outbreak of blindness whose wife manages to escape the plague. Already cast as the wife is Julianne Moore, who currently can be seen in Lee Tamahori's sci-fi thriller "Next."

An adaptation of the Jose Saramago novel, "Blindness" will be developed from the screenplay penned by Canadian screenwriter Don McKellar under the direction of Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles. Filming is due to begin this summer in Sao Paolo, Brazil with Meirelles also producing via his 02 Filmes shingle alongside Niv Fichman, Andrea Barata Ribeiro, and Sonoko Sakai.